Description
pcre_jit_compile.c in PCRE 8.35 does not properly use table jumps to optimize nested alternatives, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack memory corruption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted string, as demonstrated by packets encountered by Suricata during use of a regular expression in an Emerging Threats Open ruleset.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 | pcre3 | 2:8.38-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | pcre3 | 1:8.31-2ubuntu2.2 | USN-2943-1 |
Advisories 1
- USN-2943-1 pcre3 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 22, 2026
References
- http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1475
- 85570 vdb-entry
- https://redmine.openinfosecfoundation.org/issues/1693
- 1035424 vdb-entry
- [oss-security] 20160326 CVE Request: pcre: Segmentation fault on certain input to regular expressions with nested alternatives when JIT is used mailing-list
- https://bugs.debian.org/819050